Pope Francis Madness: Round 1

Just in time for Pope Francis’ one year anniversary as pope and the madness of march, we’re presenting you with a bracket to determine your very favorite moment from Francis’ first year. Which one will ultimately be voted the favorite? Voting begins now and Round 1 continues through Friday morning. Scroll down below the bracket to begin voting.

When Pope Francis said: “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”

When Pope Francis said to Superiors General of religious orders: “We must form their [seminary students’] hearts. Otherwise we create little monsters. And then these little monsters mold the people of God. This really gives me goose bumps.”

When Pope Francis said of himself: “I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech.”

At World Youth Day when Pope Francis said: “I would like us to make noise…I want the Church to be in the streets; I want us to defend ourselves against all that is worldliness, comfort, being closed and turned within.”

When Pope Francis said: “It is true that women can and should be more present in the places of decision of the church.”

When Pope Francis compared the Church to a field hospital after battle: “It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol…you have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else. Heal the wounds.”

When speaking about how God is in everyone’s lives, Pope Francis said: “Not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone!”

In his Joy of the Gospel, when Pope Francis said: “How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?”